// Skive Mølle (the Dutch mill) at Vestertoft, close to Holstebrovej, burned to the ground the night between August 11 and 12, 1919. The following is a transcript of the newspaper article that was published in Skive Folkeblad’s evening paper on August 12 on pages 3 & 4.
Skive Mill sunk in Gravel!
For almost a hundred years, Skive Mill has dominated up there on the hill, the foot of which is rounded by green meadows with the river’s silver ribbon, under changing conditions and in varying shapes. The red rooster has repeatedly haunted the mill and left it in ashes, but so far it has risen from the dust of the ruins and has always taken on a more respectable appearance.
Skive Mill was closely linked to the town’s physiognomy, it asserted itself like a leaf in the four-leaf clover it formed together with the water tower and the two church towers. These four points told far and wide about where the city on the hill was to be found. But now the mill’s wings are closed, greedy flames have consumed it and laid waste the entire proud mill erection.
Last night, while the citizens rested safely in the embrace of Morpheus, the fire did its work of destruction. And thus the saga of Skive Windmill is probably forever. Many will regret it because the windmill fitted so well into the circumstances, from the outside it gave the town a certain sense of coziness.
How the fire was discovered.
The mill fire was discovered by pure coincidence. At around 3.30 am, a couple of workers in Kjærs Bageri, in Vestergade, observed a flash of flames in a westerly direction, and it soon became clear to them what was going on. They immediately alerted the fire inspector, Mr. Kloch. Kloch, who immediately alerted the fire inspector, Mr. Paaske-Pedersen, who in a flash turned on the wire to his men. As always, Paaske-Pedersen was the first man on the scene, and he and the fire inspector laboriously sneaked off with the first extinguishing tools.
At this point, the fire crackled merrily on the eastern side of the mill, the flames licked eagerly up towards the hat and spread rapidly through the easily catchable material. It soon became clear that all attempts to extinguish the fire were fruitless. The mill would be a complete predator for the Luers. It was then a matter of preventing the further spread of the fire. Efforts were concentrated on this. And there was plenty to prevent. A hose was activated to prevent the fire from gaining power in the connection and storage building to the west. At the same time, they had to be on guard to protect the buildings to the east and northeast, which were showered with a shower of glowing logs.
The municipality’s considerable stock of firewood was also quite exposed for a time, but fortunately the wind was not directly on the batch stored from last year, which is of a particularly flammable nature. A dense shower of sparks fell over the whole south-western part of the city. All the way down by the spray house, the rain of sparks expressed itself by igniting various exposed woodwork, which was quickly extinguished. The properties closest to the mill had certain reminders of the fire in the form of slightly scorched windows and the like.
At 4.30 a.m. the wings fell to the ground with a mighty crash. The wings, which were facing west when the fire broke out, turned to the east before they crashed. It was a splendid and magnificent sight, as the whole skeleton of the mill was in flames from bottom to top. But shortly after the cap and wings had fallen, the entire lower part of the mill collapsed in a burning heap, which was consumed almost completely. The fire was successfully confined to the mill itself and the adjacent engine house to the east.
Where the fire is coming from
No one knows for sure, but it is generally believed to have originated in the engine house, as the fire first took hold on the eastern side of the mill. The entire mill complex is insured for DKK 83,000, and the owner, Møller Petersen, believes that the mill itself is valued at around DKK 35,000, but he was not fully aware of this when we exchanged words with him.
There were only rather insignificant quantities of grain in the mill itself, whereas there were a few acres of rye in the connecting building, which was not so little affected by the water. Inside the warehouse itself there was some rye flour in sacks, but the water damage caused here was apparently not very extensive.
Will the mill be rebuilt?
We address this question to the owner of the mill, who replies that he has not yet considered this question definitively, but in any case, the restoration will probably not be in the form of a windmill. This means that the mill on Vestre Toft has disappeared for good. Its successor will possibly be a modern piece of machinery driven by some artificial force. The Dutch windmills decorated our landscape beautifully, but their working capacity is not much when it comes to mass production. They are therefore often doomed for good as soon as the red rooster is on the move.
A few notes
It’s amazing how hard people sleep, remarked the fire chief, we had a hard time getting Møller Petersen’s family awake, and a window was broken on that occasion. When I went home half an hour later, I felt like letting some of my fellow citizens enjoy the sight of the fire, and rang the bell, but do you think anyone answered? Not a single one!
Also manufacturer E. H. Petersen’s family, Møllehuset, was only awakened after much difficulty, although the rain of sparks stood like a dense cloud over the house. As a result of the citizens’ good sleeping habits, there were relatively few bystanders to the fire. Only more random night owls and very early-morning citizens watched the magnificent fire movie. We met the mayor this morning in the immediate vicinity of the fire. “In the old days,” he said, “you were awakened in a solid way by drumming when there was a fire, but now you are not told anything until afterwards. Perhaps we should reintroduce the beating of drums when there is a fire at night!
The heat from the large wood fire was for a time quite overwhelming. Not least for the firefighters. The metal nozzle on one of the hoses melted, it must have been hot to the touch! This afternoon there will be an inquiry into the fire. It was not yet completed at 4 o’clock.
Short version of the mill’s prehistory
There is a deep mystery surrounding the mill’s earlier fires. The first two took place in the same year, namely 16. June and December 16, 1855. The mill was then owned by C. F. Jahnsen, who had also had a small steam mill installed in his barn by Holstebrovejen. After the first fire, the cause of which could not be determined, the Ministry of Justice ordered an indictment to be brought against Jahnsen, because he had allowed lamps to be used in the mill without lamps and glass. The case was conducted with Prokurator Øllgaard as Prosecutor and Munksgaard as Defensor, and after submissions were made by these two, Byfoged Schmidt handed down a judgment that the case was dismissed, and thus it probably lapsed.
Jahnsen immediately began to build a new mill, and used his steam plant, which he had in reserve. But one morning, eight days after the mill fire, some of the machinery was found violently destroyed. Jahnsen had the things repaired and almost thought that the destruction had happened out of carelessness, and that the perpetrator was one of the servants who, out of fear, failed to report how it had all happened. But the very next night after the repairs, the vandalism was repeated, and Jahnsen felt compelled to go to the police. A guard was now kept on duty and a strong lockdown was put in place so that the perpetrators could not get to the machinery.
However, the new mill was almost complete, but before it could be put into use, it burned again. The cause was not discovered this time either, but it seems that a malicious person wanted to inflict what damage he could on Jahnsen and destroy his business. Jahnsen was a brave man, but very hot-tempered. It is said that he beat his people when he could handle them. It could also happen that a man or a journeyman miller “got even”, but someone who could not or dared not try such a thing may have wanted to achieve his revenge in another way. Men and journeymen from the town, who in the evening visited the miller’s people in the parlor, were sometimes expelled or even “put out” by him, and it is far from inconceivable that among these offended forces one must seek the angry enemy who let the red cock crow in revenge.
See also
Sources
https://www.skivefolkeblad.dk/
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